Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension: Diagnosis and Evidence-Based Treatment

Pulmonary hypertension is frequently misdiagnosed and has often progressed to a late stage by the time it is accurately diagnosed. It has therefore long been considered untreatable and incurable with an overall very poor survival rate. However, new treatments are now available which have significantly improved prognosis. Recent data demonstrate survival is continuing to improve, with patients living for fifteen to twenty years or longer after diagnosis with an overall good quality of life.

In this work, each chapter will discuss therapeutic options with reference to the pre clinical studies which provided the rationale for their clinical development. The book will also include evidence-based treatment algorithms based on the 2007 update of the ACCP Guidelines for Medical Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension.

Aimed at specialists in pulmonary and cardiovascular disease, this volume provides the clinician with the most up to date information on the effective management of pulmonary hypertension.

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Pulmonary hypertension is frequently misdiagnosed and has often progressed to a late stage by the time it is accurately diagnosed. It has therefore long been considered untreatable and incurable with an overall very poor survival rate. However, new treatments are now available which have significantly improved prognosis. Recent data demonstrate survival is continuing to improve, with patients living for fifteen to twenty years or longer after diagnosis with an overall good quality of life.

In this work, each chapter will discuss therapeutic options with reference to the pre clinical studies which provided the rationale for their clinical development. The book will also include evidence-based treatment algorithms based on the 2007 update of the ACCP Guidelines for Medical Treatment of Pulmonary Hypertension.

Aimed at specialists in pulmonary and cardiovascular disease, this volume provides the clinician with the most up to date information on the effective management of pulmonary hypertension.

Robyn J. Barst, MD, Professor of Pediatrics (in Medicine); Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Center, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
Dr Barst is chair of the 'Scientific Leadership Council' of the Pulmonary Hypertension Association, a group of more than twenty internationally recognized leaders in the field of PAH. The mission of the SLC is 'to provide medical and scientific leadership for the Association by proactively facilitating the development of new knowledge about pulmonary hypertension, actively disseminating knowledge about pulmonary hypertension to medical and public audiences, and advocating and raising awareness about pulmonary hypertension. The editor and contributors are all members of the SLC, and include many well-known names including Lewis Rubin, George Simmoneau, Nazarino Galie, and David Badesch. This text is intended to be the 'official' work on the subject.
Further evidence of the standing of the contributors is the medical centers involved in the SLC, which include the Mayo Clinic, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, University of California San Diego, UCLA, Duke, Rush Presbyterian, University of Colorado, University of Utah, Vanderbilt, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and the University of Pennsylvania. The SLC also has international members from Italy, Ireland, Germany, and Canada.
Dr Barst is? on the Editorial Board of Circulation, the official Journal of the American Heart Association, and for Chest, the official journal for the American Thoracic Society. Member of European Society of Cardiology Task Force for Primary Pulmonary Hypertension, Board Member of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.